Hugh G Allison works at the visitors centre at Culloden and often hears stories from visitors about their ancestors. From this he was inspired to write this book, to bring to life some of those tales.

He starts by looking at the history of Culloden the Scottish Highlanders support for Bonne Prince Charles. He then takes a look at the different clands who were represented at Culloden, their history and how they came to be standing on that battlefield. The third section, and in my opinion, the most interesting, was the tales themselves. These were collected from visitors, people who work at the site and others with an interest in Culloden and it's history.

For me this has whet my appetite for more. I find it hard to read history books, they are often dry and dull, taking what should be an exiciting and thrilling read into the grounds of drudgery and boredom. I think it's why I like a lot of my history presented in a fictional form. (Think Sharon Kay Penman) For me, this was better than most history books I've read, but has definitely left me wanting more.

2 comments:

In 2003, my friend and I were tourists in Inverness, Scotland and we had a free morning before we left on a bus for Glasgow. We asked the visitor center where we might go that was close and didn't require a car. They recommended Culloden and so we went there. I'm ashamed to say I had never heard of the battlefield before then, but we certainly learned about it that day.

I would love to tour Scotland one day and of course visit Culloden. I imagine the sense of history and bloodshed and battle at that spot can be overwhelming.I noticed on your "about me" section that you also quilt...i do too...well, i try :-) but oh my goodness, blogging and reading seem to take up a lot of time lately! do you find that to be the case too?